Gardner Dozois and I have just learned that Bantam has scheduled our all-original retro-SF anthology OLD MARS for release on October 8 of this year. The anthology will feature fifteen original, never-before-published short stories and novelettes about Mars, story notes and author intros by Gardner, and an introduction by yours truly.

The setting will NOT be the real (but somewhat boring) post-Mariner Mars, but rather the Mars thatwe all loved as kids, the one with the canals and the dead cities and the myriad marvelous Martians.

((Gotta love that retro rocket ship. I sure do)).

Here's the lineup of stories and contributors:

RED PLANET BLUES (Introduction) by George R.R. MartinMARTIAN BLOOD, by Allen M. SteeleTHE UGLY DUCKLING, by Matthew HughesTHE WRECK OF THE MARS ADVENTURE, by David D. LevineSWORDS OF ZAR-TU-KAN, by S.M. StirlingSHOALS, by Mary RosenblumIN THE TOMBS OF THE MARTIAN KINGS, by Mike ResnickOUT OF SCARLIGHT, by Liz WilliamsTHE DEAD SEA-BOTTOM SCROLLS, by Howard WaldropA MAN WITHOUT HONOR, by James S.A. CoreyWRITTEN IN DUST, by Melinda SnodgrassTHE LOST CANAL, by Michael MoorcockTHE SUNSTONE, by Phyllis EisensteinKING OF THE CHEAP ROMANCE, by Joe R. LansdaleMARINER, by Chris RobersonTHE QUEEN OF NIGHT’S ARIA, by Ian McDonald

Gargoo and I had a lot of fun putting this one together, and I hope you folks will have as much fun reading it. So circle October 8 on your calendars. Old Mars is lovely in the fall.

George R.R. Martin, I can't begin to thank you! My name is Igor, from Brazil. From age twelve I've taken an interest in reading, and from this came my love for writing. Ever since that time I've written many stories, discarding every one of them, one after another. I had the dream to eventually make my own book, but I never made it half-the-way. That is, until I read your books.

A Song of Ice and Fire is a GREAT series. You did a great job capturing the points-of-view from different characters. From the naive Jon Snow to the cunning Tyrion Lannister, each one of them is a character of it's own. And the plotting, the warring, the fighting... all of it captivated me.

You gave me inspiration. And it let me create my own book series.

"Aço e Sombra" (or Steel and Shadow as it's name would be in English) is the first book of the series "O Confronto dos Deuses" (The Clash of Gods), a (heavy) fantasy series describing the events of the second Age of Shadows, the conflict between the fallen God of Fire (Gallashkulah) and the Goddess of Moon (Lauvida), told by the point-of-view from different characters in different parts of the world.

I own this to you. Without reading your series, I would never have made it this far. The first book is done, with around 400 A4 pages, published on an amateur site (though I'm trying to get a local publishing house to publish it). The second book of the series, "Coroas de Sangue" (Blood Crowns) is under work right now, with around 50 A4 pages of work done.

Words are not enought to describe how gratefull I am, George. In my book, I've made many references to your work. Futhermore, in the beggining of the book, there's also this:

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(Translation: I thank many people which works and ideas motivated and inspired the creation of this book and his countless characters. Special thanks to the creator of the acclaimed series "A Song of Ice and Fire", George R.R. Martin, which works inspired deeply the creation of this one. I dedicate this work to my brothers, my uncles, my grandparents, my friends, my father, but, above all, my mother, the person who helped me the most during all the road I went to come to this book.)

Well... I think I've dragged myself quite too long here, eh? Well... let's finish this. George, I said it before and I'll say it again: thank you, man, I mean it. You are the King of Fantasy. I'm a young boy and know nothing of the world, and I don't know if I'm gonna be sucessful or not with this book, but man, I do hope I will. Perhaps one day, if I make sucess with this (doubt it) I will maybe manage to talk to you during lunch or something (doubt it too) eh? I'll even pay it, should this day come!

Well, this is it. Sorry to bother you and take your time. Go enjoy youself now, Martin, and if anyone bothers you, kick 'em in the knees! Unless that's me, of course.

P.S.: I've put all this text on a comment simply because I don't know your email and don't know where to find it. Yeah, I'm just that idiot! It's a natural talent of mine.